I understand now why babies usually don’t need to be prompted to cry out when born. Blinding lights, being shoved through a hole that literally deforms your skull, and the sensation of drowning as your body expels amniotic fluid from your lungs. In general, I would rate the experience a 3 out of 10, because after the pain and dizziness, not only did my sister and I get a bunch of levels in Pain Resistance, but we also finally got to meet our family. Sis and I paid the most attention to Mom because we were hungry, and being in her embrace felt so much safer. Months of listening to her heartbeat and living within her warmth made us crave her presence. The contrast of the outside world felt cold and still, but there was no going back in; it was time to face the future.
Mom was a young woman with light brown hair and cyan blue eyes. There was something in her eyes that spoke of a quiet pain but also a fierce love. She typically left us in a side building built next to a large mansion, and from her clothing, Sis and I quickly figured out she was a maid, specifically a wet nurse, as on one occasion we saw her feeding a baby wearing clothes instead of being wrapped in cloth like we were. Mom would frequently spend time with us, humming or playing with my sister who would drag me into their games, as my sister had taken to being far more energetic than me. While I figured out how to move mana, my sister snuck ahead of me again, being the first to walk. I secretly swore to myself I wouldn’t let her be the first to speak, from then on Mom had to deal with two active babies that were sneaking off every chance they got. As time passed, I finally beat my sister with the first intentional word!
“Ma ma,” I cried out while holding up my arms, signaling I wanted to be picked up, only to get delighted squealing as Mom smothered me in a hug and her friend cooed. I could feel my sister burning in jealousy. We had agreed the first word had to be "mom" or some variant, and I had managed to figure it out and pronounce it first. However, my sister clearly couldn’t tolerate my win, because as I was being smothered by Mom, she started copying me (cheater). Soon Mom had embraced us, both happily joining us in bed, singing her lullabies until we had fallen asleep.
We quickly learned that my name was Callen and my sister's was Callia. Mother's name was Ela, and we lived in the manor of the Lord of Grammark City. Dad was a knight in service to the lord and had left for a long-term posting in the kingdom's only port, which happened to be known as Port Town. My sister and I asked why there weren't more ports, and apparently Port Town is only safe from powerful sea monsters because of an ancient tree known as the Wither Tree. For some reason, it deterred the powerful sea monsters that regularly consumed any travelers who traveled too close to the ocean.
Even though we were babies, it seemed our awareness and competitive nature caught the attention of staff throughout the manor. Most considered us a pair of competitive siblings, but for some reason the reaction of the staff whenever we were practicing was to lock us into our cradle or prevent us from training. It turns out that in general being active as a child is considered dangerous to a child's future. Not because of a health limitation, but because apparently all beings have a limited number of skills they can acquire, which will gradually fill up as they get older. If a child is too active and accidentally acquires skills too early, they won’t be able to focus their efforts on their future profession. Sis and I disregarded their warnings because of one of our traits:
We knew something was different about us, but the existence of this trait felt like it was something unlike anything other children had. Therefore, we continued to ignore the maids trying to stop us and continued our competitions. However, at one point, someone was brought before us; he was a well-dressed elderly man. He briefly held my hand and then my sister's.
“Incredible!” His statement seemed to intrigue the watching maids before he continued, “The level of these children is already rivalling that of most children around the age of 10.” After that declaration he seemed remorseful. “These may be the most talented children I have ever inspected, but considering their age, it is also likely the skills they mastered will undoubtedly be a loss to their potential. They will have a hard time finding an apprenticeship or mastery in any useful skills. At best they might be skilled laborers, but their potential has been exhausted.” After saying that, the elderly man's interest in the twins fell away, and he disregarded them as wastes.
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From then on, our renown had turned against us. Instead of being prodigies, our future was considered bleak. The maids pitied us for having unknowingly ruined our futures, as the only experience we could have was through skill gain. While it varied from person to person, humans typically had several foundational skills as a base before acquiring more specialized/rare skills later in life. Like poison, the manor’s treatment of us had shifted into mistreatment. On one occasion, a maid had locked us in a remote tool shed while mocking us that Mother would thank her for cleaning up her trash.
The actions turned in a darker direction, but Mom, realizing how bleak our future at the manor had become, decided we had endured enough and resigned. With that, Callia and I got to see the outside of the manor for the first time.
Outside the manor was a packed city with massive stone walls, with large weapons mounted frequently across them. Inside the walls were densely packed stone buildings and tight streets with an ever-shifting crowd of people. Mom firmly held onto us as she worked her way through the city, eventually making it out a gate where she boarded a carriage with a number of other people on it. With so much noise around, Callia and I struggled to make out anything in the chaos, but we did hear that the carriage we were on was headed for Port Town. The dejection and poor condition of the passengers made me and Sis nervous. It felt like we were heading to some penal colony or dumping ground for the unwanted. However, Mom was there to reassure us, letting us know that when we get there we will get to meet our father and grandfather, and she plans for us to stay with them in the future.
